Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

MINA

"How many languages do you speak?" Gianni hooked his arm through mine and walked beside me to the car.

He shrugged. "Four or five. Italian, Spanish, French, English, and of course, bad."

I laughed. "I think we can all speak bad language."

"Fuck yeah we can." He grinned. "How about you?"

"I can definitely speak bad," I said. "Also, Italian and French, but I'm rusty. I learned French at school and Italian at home. And bad from Asher and Zeke."

Reuben grunt-laughed. "That sounds accurate."

"You learned all your naughty words from your younger brother?" Gianni teased.

"Who else?" Reuben asked. He shot us a playful look of mock innocence, but it only lasted a moment.

Those flashes fascinated me. The insight into the man under the stony exterior. I suspected we'd never see more than flashes, but those he displayed were endearing. Every time I saw them, I fell in love with him a little more. They made him seem more human, and reminded me that he also had vulnerabilities. None he'd admit to, but he had them.

"My guess would have been the twins," I said.

I glanced over at Damon, ready to tease, but the expression on his face made me hold my tongue.

He was clearly not listening to us, his mind elsewhere. On his brother, I presumed. In a mood like that, he might be inclined to shoot first and think about what he was doing later. Not that he was a hothead, usually, but he was wound up tighter than a spring, ready to burst. Now was the time to step lightly around him.

I wanted to reassure him we'd find Enzo, but I had no idea what would happen after that. Carlos might kill him or we might.

I considered suggesting we put my vendetta aside, but I sensed Damon wouldn't stop until he found his brother, regardless of what he'd done. Regardless of what I might do to him.

Damon unlocked the SUV and we all climbed inside without another word.

"Is it far?" I asked to fill the silence.

"Nope." Damon started the engine.

Gianni scooted over closer to me and fastened his seatbelt. He took my hand and squeezed.

"No one will blame you for what you have to do." His tattooed fingers were warm around mine, reassuring.

I looked over at him and pressed my lips together. "I might. Damon will."

Nothing quite says 'I love you' like killing his brother. Even if he understood, some part of him would always resent what I did. He'd always wonder if maybe he could have found a way for Enzo to make up for the past.

But this wasn't a romance novel, and no amount of grovelling from Enzo could undo his part in everything. His death wouldn't take away the pain either, but it would help to give me some peace.

Was it worth the risk of starting a war with Damon? I didn't want to lose him, especially not like this.

I tried, but I couldn't remember a time when I was more conflicted than I was right now. I might have been about to rip us all apart, just for revenge.

What did that say about me? Was I as bad as Kurt for wanting to burn down everyone who burnt me? I reminded myself that if I didn't, and another person suffered because of it, that would be my fault. Their blood, their suffering, would be on my hands.

That, I couldn't, wouldn't tolerate. If I could help it, they wouldn't touch another person. I owed that little girl that. I owed younger Mina that. I owed it to Daze's daughter, to make her safer.

No matter the price.

"Damon understands what's at stake here," Gianni assured me. "So does his brother. You can't be responsible for his actions. That would be like blaming Damon for them."

He raised his voice to make sure everyone in the car could hear. "And anything Enzo did is not Damon's fault."

Damon tensed, but didn't glance back or respond. He was clearly not finished blaming himself. What would it take?

I spent five years hating myself for something I didn't even do. I blamed myself for her death, but I was starting to accept that everything which happened was Kurt's fault. Not mine.

Someday I may forgive myself and hopefully, so would Damon. Otherwise, we'd spend the rest of our lives eating ourselves up from the inside out, with remorse for things we didn't do.

"Give him time," Gianni said. "He knows the score, even if he's busy beating himself up right now." His tone was soft, gentle with affection for Damon.

At some point, they'd gone from working together to being something more. At least, as far as Gianni was concerned. I was almost certain it was reciprocated. They weren't rushing into anything, but the feelings were there, like they were between Damon and Reuben.

I remembered the way they kissed and my blood suddenly became hot. Being fucked by two guys at the same time wasn't something I would have dreamt of, but it was incredible and I wanted to do it again. Next time, with Gianni present too, and taking part. What would it be like to be with all three of them at the same time?

Fuck, now my panties were wet. Good. I deserved to enjoy intimacy with my three incredible mafia kings. Sparrow and the mafia kings, who would have thought? Certainly not me, but here we were. If I didn't break us all apart, we could be together forever.

Plenty of time for us to explore each other and all the possibilities.

All I could do in response to Gianni’s words, was nod and lean against him while we wound through the streets of Dusk Bay.

The address on the piece of paper Bianca gave to Reuben, led to a large house a block or so from Demons' Arena, where the ice hockey team played their home games.

"They're actually a front for a lot of Caleb's smuggling operations," Gianni said. "As a team, they kinda suck. In a loveable losers kind of way." He nodded towards the arena.

I’d watched a game or two on TV with Gianni and he wasn't wrong about that. I didn't know much about ice hockey, but they lost both times I watched. Their goalie was my cousin, Phoenix. As far as I could tell, he was good at what he did, saving more goals than letting them through, but the team still lost. What would Phoenix think if he knew I watched him play?

I hadn't seen Ric's brother since the guys found me, but I would eventually. He was on the list of people who weren't allowed to know about me yet. Although, he was lower on the list, because we were never close. Not in the past, anyway. In the future, I hoped we could form a bond of some kind. The frustration he showed every time the puck got past him was pure DiMarco. We hated losing. He must be irritated as hell at doing it all the time.

I couldn't imagine Caleb giving a shit about the team's performance on the ice, although he technically owned them. Honestly, I felt sorry for them. Professional athletes worked hard and deserved better than to be an afterthought in the life of Caleb Brantley. Just another part of the business.

I made a note to suggest to the twins that maybe they could take over the team. Between them, they'd run it better than he did. Without a doubt, if I suggested it to Caleb, he'd tell me it was none of my business. This was a handy sidestep, and the twins would, if nothing else, get a hoot out of it. Anything to get under Caleb's skin.

I turned my attention to the house, and shivered. It reminded me of the last job I did.

The house where the girl died. I tried not to think about her blood seeping into my clothes. Her eyes, staring at me…

Two stories, brick painted cream, black windows and a roof that slanted across the top of the structure. The look was too modern for my taste. Judging by the look on his face, it was too modern for Reuben's taste too.

"Who owns this place?" I asked.

Damon was on his phone, searching for exactly that information. "Not us, or the cartel. Or the brotherhood, as far as I can tell. It seems to be privately owned. Someone by the name of Karrie Levine." He shrugged.

"Hopefully we won't get too much blood on Ms Levine's house," Gianni remarked. "Although, if you rent houses to dubious people, you get dubious things happening."

"Gianni and Mina, you go around the back," Reuben said. "Damon and I will check out the front."

"On it, boss," Gianni said. He grabbed my hand and we slipped over to a side gate that led to the back of the house.

"How inconsiderate of them to lock it," Gianni remarked.

"How considerate of them to have such a simple lock." I pulled out my lock picking tools and had it open in about ten seconds flat.

"I've always said locks only keep honest people out." He grinned and pushed the gate open.

"Considering we could have climbed over it, yeah," I agreed. We might have been seen by the neighbours, so that would have been a last resort. Why risk what could be done with a turn of my hand?

We walked slowly across paved ground, past raised gardens with the kind of plants that didn't need any attention. The kind that were planted for decoration, not because the owner enjoyed getting their hands dirty.

Terry would have hated the place.

We walked past windows with curtains drawn over them, to the back door. Beside it, a keypad was attached to the wall, a light flashing at the top.

"I've been looking forward to this," Gianni whispered.

From my pocket, I drew out my device and placed it beside the keypad to turn off the security. The screen turned on, numbers tumbling over numbers, letters over letters until they hit on the combination and the light turned dark.

"That was fucking awesome," Gianni whispered. "I want one."

"If I can find out how to get one, I'll give you one for Christmas," I assured him.

"Fucking yes, please." He tried the door, but it was locked. With an elaborate gesture, he stepped aside for me to pick that too. "No wonder you could get in anywhere. Is there anything that could keep you out?"

"Not that I know of," I said. "But no job ever included a moat and crocodiles. Yet."

He laughed softly. "If anyone could get past those, it would be you."

I didn't know about that, but the vote of confidence didn't hurt my ego.

I eased the door open and listened carefully.

Grimaced.

Unless there was someone else in the house, Angelina and Enzo wouldn't hear us coming. By the sound of it, they were too busy coming themselves.

My hand in Gianni's, we moved slowly through the darkened house, towards the source of the sound.

I caught a hint of movement at the front of the house. Reuben and Damon must have entered when I turned off the security system. I estimated that the pair were between the four of us. With that in mind, I slowed slightly.

Let Damon find his brother first.

I caught a glimpse of them moving down the corridor towards us, illuminated in the light that came from a single room. It shone across the floor, glowing on pale hardwood.

Damon stepped into the doorway and stopped.

I moved to stand beside him.

Sure enough, a dark-haired woman around my age was riding a man who bore a striking resemblance to Damon. Her head was back, eyes closed, her hair long enough to brush her ass. Her breasts bounced with every roll of her hips.

"That's Enzo," Damon said.

They didn't realise we were there until he spoke. Angelina let out a squeak and threw her hands over her breasts.

Enzo turned to stare at us, squinting in confusion and disbelief.

I gave him the same look. "I've never seen him before."